Product index expanded to 20 chapters with inclusion of composite technology

Stand space application for ITMA 2023 will open on 3 March. The world’s largest textile and garment technology exhibition, ITMA will be held at Fiera Milano Rho, Milan, from 8 to 14 June 2023.

Following its successful showcase in Barcelona in 2019, interest in the upcoming exhibition remains high despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. According to its show owner CEMATEX, and organiser ITMA Services, many enquiries have been received from interested participants since last year.

Charles Beauduin, Chairman of ITMA Services, explained: “The pandemic has changed the world in many unprecedented ways. We are now moving into a new world where the digital space has become more commonplace. At the same time, it has underscored the importance of face-to-face meetings, which all of us will appreciate more than ever once it becomes possible again.

“Many textile technology builders are using these couple of years to consolidate their business, and to advance their research and development efforts to stay competitive. As such, by the time ITMA 2023 is held, they will be ready to showcase their latest innovations in Milan.”

Mr Ernesto Maurer, President of CEMATEX, added: “In the meantime, we are also looking at various ways to help textile and garment industry players maximise their participation at ITMA 2023. Exhibitors will be able to explore additional avenues to promote their latest machinery and solutions through our new digital platform, which will help to connect exhibitors and visitors before their face-to-face meetings at ITMA 2023, and after the exhibition. We have also expanded and refined our product index to reflect opportunities in the marketplace.”

Expanded product index

ITMA 2023 will feature 20 chapters. A new chapter on machinery for textile reinforcement structures for composites, auxiliary machinery and accessories, has been created to address the needs of buyers in this growing sector.

Mr Beauduin explained, “ITMA 2023 features solutions for an entire textile and garment manufacturing value chain. The composite industry is bursting with opportunities. While composite solutions have been showcased at past ITMA editions, we are now making it easier for buyers to source these technologies by clustering them in one sector.”

Among the first to applaud this move is Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the Board of Management, said: “It’s great to learn that technology for textile composites which have been showcased at ITMA for many years, has now been established as a separate product chapter to give the sector more visibility. At the last exhibition in Barcelona, we successfully launched our P2 rapier weaving machine. The machine was very well received by visitors from various industry sectors, ranging from clothing, home and technical textiles, to composite material manufacturing.”

Other past ITMA exhibitors excited about the new sector include Luke Vardy, Managing Director of Cygnet Texkimp. He enthused, “As a regular ITMA exhibitor and established manufacturer of fibre processing machinery for the technical fibre markets, we feel that the dedicated composites chapter will present us with more focused opportunities to showcase our solutions to the existing wide array of visitors from various industries such as aerospace, automotive, defence and medical.”

Chapter 11 will feature machinery for textile reinforcement structures for composites, as well as auxiliary machinery and accessories. Included in the chapter are:

·    Machines for the production and treatment of special fibres, such as carbon, glass and aramid fibres

·    Filament winding machines

·    Fibre spreading machines

·    Tape laying machines, fibre placement lines

·    Coating and impregnation machines for prepreg production

·    Other machines for the production of reinforcement structures

·    Special testing equipment for textile reinforcement structures

·    Auxiliary machinery and accessories for machines for textile reinforcement structures

Further reflecting current industry demands and needs, the ITMA 2023 product index has been updated to feature equipment for textile recycling, such as textile sorting systems and chemical recycling technology.

The chapter on software and automation for design, data monitoring, processing and integrated production has been expanded to include digital platforms for textile and clothing production, procurement of textile materials and B2C platforms for retail. There is also a bigger range of solutions for automation of production processes, and tracking and tracing of products.

Themed Transforming the World of Textiles, ITMA 2023 is expected to draw strong response. The recent ITMA 2023 virtual launch received enthusiastic response. The event recording can be viewed on itma.com. More details on stand space application can also be found on the website. For participation enquiries, please email: application@itma.com.

The last ITMA exhibition, held in Barcelona in 2019, featured exhibits from the entire textile and garment making value-chain, including raw materials and fabrics. It drew a record-breaking participation of 1,717 exhibitors from 45 countries and visitorship of over 105,000 from 136 countries.